Presentation & Book Signing June 4th

 

This Saturday, June 4th, high atop Alabama's tallest mountain, Cheaha State Park will be celebrating mankind's best hiking partner and friend - our pups during Bark in the Park. It is a three day event with plenty of activities and presentations for you and your dog. I will be there on Saturday from 11am to 2pm selling and signing copies of my book, Best Dog Hikes Alabama and will do a presentation at noon on what you need to know about hiking with your dog and the best places to hike in the state with them.

The complete schedule can be found here. Hope to see you there!

Space Oddities Episode 3

 

In case you haven't you missed it, episode 3 of my Space Oddities podcast has posted. It's titled, "The First Moon Flights Club" and can be heard now on Buzzsprout or wherever you download your favorite podcasts.

Space Oddities Podcast Episode 3 Debuts May 23rd

 

The next episode of the Space Oddities Podcast, the companion to my new book of the same name, will drop next Monday, May 23.

Episode 3, The First Flights Club, travels back in time to the mid-1960s. Long before Jeff Bezos sent civilians into space aboard his privately funded rocket, New Shepard, another company was taking reservations for passengers to fly to the moon.

As always, there are some interesting show notes with additional video, audio, and images that will bring this fascinating story to life. 

Episode 3 premiers next Monday, May 23^rd.

Upcoming Events

 

I’m getting back to my hiking roots with a couple of book signings in June and I hope you can join me.

June 4: Bark In The Park – Cheaha State Park, Delta, AL

Author Joe Cuhaj will be at Cheaha State Park June 4  to discuss hiking with and without your dog: gear, safety on the trail, and the many beautiful hiking destinations across Alabama. Joe will be selling and autographing copies of his many Falcon guidebooks.

June 27: Madison Public Library, Huntsville, AL – 6pm

Meet Joe Cuhaj, author of Best Dog Hikes in Alabama. Learn where the best dog-friendly trails are and get advice before you head out with your best friend. After the presentation, Joe will be selling and autographing copies of his many falcon guidebooks.

You Can Never Learn Enough History

 

I've finally caught up with my pressing deadlines and I'm diving in to start writing two new non-fiction history books that I have contracted to write for History Press and Prometheus Books.

First up is a new historical look at Alabama's Gulf Coast, Mobile and Baldwin Counties. The book will be  titled, A History Lover's Guide To Mobile And Baldwin County (sums it up, doesn't it?) and will be an historical travel guide to the region. Each chapter will introduce readers to a particular aspect of Alabama Gulf Coast history then take them to places where they can experience that history and have it come alive. 

Maybe it's a museum, a cemetery, a church. The goal of the book is to bring the rich history of the area (the city was founded in 1702) to life for visitors and residents.

The second book is one I've been toying with for a couple of years now and was put aside so that I could work on Space Oddities. With the glowing reviews from readers who received pre-release copies, my publisher, Prometheus Books, asked if I had something else up my sleeve that would be in the same vein. I immediately sent them a proposal for, Everyone's Gone To The Moon, Life On Earth And The Epic Voyage Of Apollo 11.

The premise of Everyone's Gone To The Moon is to take a trip back in time to the month of July 1969. It will be a journey through the entire month telling little known and forgotten tales of our first moon landing, Apollo 11, from preparations to splashdown and a hero's welcome.  

But more than that, it will bring to life stories of life here on Earth during that time. Yes, on July 20, 1969, it seemed like everyone had truly gone to the moon. Just about everyone alive stopped and watched in wonder as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took those first tentative steps on another celestial body. But except for that brief, fleeting moment, the world continued on - wars waged on, protestors filled the streets, and families were just trying to make ends meet.

These long forgotten stories of the pop culture, the politics, weather disasters, and life in general in Hometown, USA took back seat to the historic space feat. This book weave those stories with that of the Apollo 11 mission, and from my research so far,

I think you will love the book and the snapshot of life here on Earth during a turbulent time.

My deadline for the Mobile history book is September and we're hoping for a holiday release. The deadline for Everyone Has Gone To The Moon is December 1st with a spring 2023 release. Oh, and it will be my first hard cover book. 

I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Space Oddities Podcast Episode 2 Has Posted

Episode 2 of my new book, Space Oddities: Forgotten Stories of Mankind's Exploration of Space, has dropped. 

This episode is titled, "What a Spectacle!" and tells the fascinating story of a commercial airliner, its passengers, and crew that had a truly remarkable view of Apollo 11 returning from the moon in July 1969. It was a view that no one else on Earth had and they were the first to confirm that Apollo 11 had made it home.

Listen to the episode and view additional video clips and images here.

Space Oddities Podcast Debut!

I'm proud to announce that episode one of Space Oddities: The Podcast has posted!

This ten part series is a companion to my new book, Space Oddities: Forgotten Stories of Mankind's Exploration of Space, that will be on book shelfs August 15th. The podcast features more lesser known and forgotten space tales that couldn't fit in the book.

Episode 1 is titled, "Moon Dust In Your Lungs, Stars In Your Eyes", and discusses NASA's plans to keep the Earth from being contaminated by lunar germs during the Apollo missions that unfortunately had a few flaws that will make you chuckle. We will also meet the first man to (accidentally) touch the moon and a young woman who got an unexpected shot of moon dust.

The title for this episode came while doing online research for the book. It was posted on one of those online quote sites and was credited to "anonymous." The full quote was, "Moon dust in your lungs, stars in your eyes. You are a child of the cosmos, a ruler of the skies."

The quote summarized the episode quite nicely.

You can download the episode HERE complete with show notes featuring images, videos, and more or from many of your favorite sites where you get your podcasts.